Hi All,

I'm doing the drive from LA to San Fran at the end of the month. I have a week to do it. Will rent a convertible hopefully something cool - wish I was driving the S2K of course though.

Looking for any recos on the Pacific Coast Highway route 1. Landmarks, hiking trails, restaurants, hotels, specific side roads etc.

Open to all suggestions...

 

We just did a group drive to Big Sur and stopped off at a restaurant called Napenthe. Food was really good and the view was excellent.

 

yeah but we took the backroads there. Thats why the drive was so fun.

 

Alone or with a lady friend a

Sorry just had to add that last bit

 

You should try out this bbq place up in Pacifica. I really like it a lot

http://www.yelp.com/biz/gorilla-barbeque-pacifica

 

If I want a cool rental ie. convertible Mustang or something comparable - Do I need to rent it now for May 20th week?

Any recos on rental companies?

 

if you let rental companies know you want a specific car ahead of time they can accommodate you with a list of available vehicles.

if your renting down there, i would call hertz or enterprise and see whats up.

 

solvang, santa barbara, & san luis obispo/hearst castle are all nice stops. solvang is especially cool.

if you rent a mustang, the speed limiter is 80 mph. not condoning being fast & furious, but that's pretty bothersome, esp when you're about to get boxed in by semis or a train of other slow moving vehicles. rented a mustang in LA last year. it was fun, but they only rent the 6 cyl ones.

 

Thought I'd revive this thread! Driving from SF to the Big Sur - plan on renting a Porsche Boxster bc that's the best handling car I can find to tackle any windy roads.

Beach views, great, but does anyone have any suggestions for some detours?

I haven't found too many (that aren't dirt roads):
-turn off hwy 1 to 92, go over to hw 35 and through redwood park and then back down hwy 84 (La Honda Rd - how app!) which then reconnects back to hwy 1
-Nacimiento Campgrouds, you can detour off hwy 1 and wind your way down to Plaskett Creek Campgroud - there's barely any Google Street views, but the beginning part appears paved.

Thanks!

 

On the 1 - 92 - 84 detour, take Pescadero Creek Road just after La Honda, and drive into Pescadero. Duarte's Tavern is a gem.

There aren't a lot of detours that won't take you all the way back into the interior Bay Area.

After Big Sur, you can turn off Nacimiento-Ferguson Road, and drive back into Fort Hunter Ligget and Mission San Antonio De Padua, but I don't know whether you want to drive all the way from King City back to San Francisco, either.